CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regexvimescaping
johnny_bgoode
johnny_bgoode

Reputation: 357

How to search (using regex) for a regex literal in text?

I just stumbled on a case where I had to remove quotes surrounding a specific regex pattern in a file, and the immediate conclusion I came to was to use vim's search and replace util and just escape each special character in the original and replacement patterns.

This worked (after a little tinkering), but it left me wondering if there is a better way to do these sorts of things.

The original regex (quoted): '/^\//' to be replaced with /^\//

And the search/replace pattern I used: s/'\/\^\\\/\/'/\/\^\\\/\//g

Thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1704

Answers (3)

shindojin
shindojin

Reputation: 1

Please check whether this works for you - define the line number before this substitute-expression or place the cursor onto it:

:s:'\(.*\)':\1:

I used vim 7.1 for this. Of course, you can visually mark an area before (onto which this expression shall be executed (use "v" or "V" and move the cursor accordingly)).

Upvotes: 0

cdhowie
cdhowie

Reputation: 169018

You can use almost any character as the regex delimiter. This will save you from having to escape forward slashes. You can also use groups to extract the regex and avoid re-typing it. For example, try this:

:s#'\(\\^\\//\)'#\1#

I do not know if this will work for your case, because the example you listed and the regex you gave do not match up. (The regex you listed will match '/^\//', not '\^\//'. Mine will match the latter. Adjust as necessary.)

Upvotes: 5

ajwood
ajwood

Reputation: 19027

Could you avoid using regex entirely by using a nice simple string search and replace?

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions